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Old October 9, 2016   #20
Cole_Robbie
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
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The only food-grade pumps I found were meant for running melted chocolate fountains. The volume was really low on them, far too low for my use.

Non-hydro organic tomatoes would be a lot easier, in my opinion at least, and cheaper too.

Organic hydroponics is really rare. I won't say impossible, but certainly rare. The problem is that organic fertilizers contain organic matter, which feeds bacteria. Hydro systems have a tendency to get over-run with anaerobic pythium bacteria that cause root rot.

Compare the oxygen available to roots growing through a loose pro-mix with peat and perlite, versus submerged in water. In higher oxygen environments, it is harder for the anaerobic bacteria to take over, which is why organic ferts can work so well in potted plants - you're culturing the good bacteria.

There's no real authority on the exact definition of hydroponics. If it just means "without soil," then most container plants would be hydro, because pro-mix and other typical grow media does not contain any actual dirt. Large-scale operations often use perlite or rockwool, and "run-to-waste." That's just watering from the top and letting the waste water drip away, which is really the same as any potted plant. By the same token, I think straw bale gardening is hydro, too, even though we don't call it that. Also, the Earthbox and other sub-irrigated planters could also be termed "wick hydroponics."
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